River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-04-07
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent

| Aptll ISL. 1901.
The most novel event which Will
happen in Washington this year will
be the National Drill during the last
week in May. The managers of the
affair predict that it will unquestion-
| ably be the greatest spectacle in the
way of massing superb, civic military
| companies the world has ever seen.
Military displays are always popular.
Whether paraded in peace or exhibit
| ed in conflict, the gay uniforms, the
| FURNISHED arms, the martial music, the
shrill piping of flies, the rafting
drums, the "heroic voices of the blu.
giles, the flying banners, the prancing
staeds, and the ghOstly city of tents,
all appeal to the senses and spirit of
| the people.
State and other local drills have been
| held at different places, some of them
meeting with signal success, but no
| National Drill has ever before been at
tempted. and one could not be carried
out elsewhere than at the Capital.
The affairs of the coming drill have
been excellently managed. Several
| weeks ago the committee had in hand
over SIS, 900 TO expend on the display
and more recently subscriptions of
from $500 to ST. each. have been
declined because all money necessary
had already been subscribed and paid
in.
The camping ground will be that ly-
ing around the Washington Monument
The drill ground will be the beautiful,
level ellipSe, half a mile in circumfer-
ence lying south of the White House,
and which is called the White Lot
Here, daily, will be held the contests
to prove the excellence of the citizen
soldiery, infantry, artillery, cavalry,
and zouave tactics.
There will be contending companies,
If not rival regiments, from many
parts of the country. The East and
West, North and South will be here
with their bands and drum corps. The
lake and gulf sections will be repre-
scented and indeed the whole country
from Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate,
from Castine to san Diego, from Seat
tie to Key West will be here to drill
for the prizes. Besides the distribu-
ton of S26,500 in cash prizes, there
will be stands of cOlOrs, medals in gold,
silver and bronze, special medals and
plate trophies.
The drill, which will begin on the
23rd, of May; will last nine days and
close on Decoration DAY." Each
evening there will be a grand brigade
dress parade, and on Governors Day
and Decoration Day the entire army
corps from Camp George Washington
will parade the broad avenues of the
fffu Eonh n.+anfnur Anrinu fha drill
the grounds will be Illuminated for
promenade concerts and for other at
fractions which are now being pre-
pared for the public.
Not only will all sections of the
country send their volunteer s0ldieTy
to compete for the prizes, but the lat
ter will bring along their sisters and
their cousins and their aunts' to wit
ness their brilliant achievements, The
number of military to be here is estim-
ated at twenty thousand and the num-
Der of visiting spectators expected to
be present is from two hundred thOus-
and to three hundred thousand. 1t
Will doubtless be the largest gathering
seen here since the grand review at
the close of the war.
An immense multitude is always in
teresting in itself and to itself, and
one very important feature of the af
fair is the provision for board and
shelter. Washington is city of no
tells and boarding houses. 1t was not
crowded during the Cleveland inaug-
uration, although there were said 10
be hundreds of thousands of visitors
here then.
There is no more interesting city in
America than Washington, and May
finds it in its glory. Nowadays ev-
eTybOdy considers the education of
everybody who has not seen the Capt.
tai Incomplete. One of the chief things
that this show city" lacks is some
thing to draw the people here once or
twice year in great numbers, and it
has been proposed that the National
Drill be made permanent institution,
as prevalent ana regular as Congress.
At any rate, the city, with its marble
halls and asphalt streets, its historic
spots and beautiful surroundings. with
Mount Vernon, Georgetown, Bltdens-
burg, Arlington, the Potomac, and
with Harper's Ferry and the CHEESE
peake but short distance away, of
fers you many inducements for few
weeks visit in May.